BANK VICTIMS APPLAUD THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A ROYAL COMMISSISION INTO THE BANKING SECTOR BUT PUSH FOR STRONG TERMS OF REFERENCE

It has been brought to our attention from The Citizens Electoral Council of Australia that our parliament may pass The Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Crisis Resolution Powers and Other Measures) Bill 2017 by the last week in November.

BREAKING NEWS : THERE WILL BE NO COMPENSATION FOR BANK VICTIMS UNTIL ASIC’S CHAIR, DEPUTY CHAIR AND CEO STAND DOWN WHILE THERE IS AN INVESTIGATION INTO THEIR FAILURE, SINCE 2004, TO PROSECUTE CORRUPT BANKERS: WHAT A DISGRACE.

Hi to you all,

Over 12 months ago we were told by the Government that a “one stop shop” would be set up to help the many bank victims through the maze of the system, and have their cases heard with hopefully compensation paid back to them because of the corrupt action of the banks.

Our team of researchers have presented to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) several cases that without doubt show there were unconscionable actions, asset stripping and fraudulent activity by some banks.

In light of the recent scandals by CBA, there has been no explanation by ASIC as to why the banks Chief Executive, implicated by corrupt banking practices that Bank Victims has reported since 2011, has not been prosecuted to date.

During the CBA Chief Executive’s highly paid term of management, the bank has been implicated in the following scandals:

March 2016: Claims CBA failed to pay life insurance claims due to its strict/outdated definitions. CBA failed to alert police to fraud allegations.

August 2016: Two US funds filed a class action against the four major banks. ANZ, NAB, and Westpac had already been charged by ASIC for manipulating rates. CBA was not named in the ASIC action, but was named in the class action.

December 2016: CommSec tops fines list from the Markets Disciplinary Panel in 2016 for allowing trading in accounts of deceased clients.

August 2017: Alleged violations of AML laws due to failure to submit timely TTR reports to Austrac.

Victims cannot have confidence ASIC is capable of carrying out its responsibilities, in light of these oversights by Mr Greg Medcraft, Peter Kell and Greg Tanzer. They must be stood down while there is an urgent investigation or a Royal Commission that has powers to investigate and prosecute banks and regulators implicated in the problematic banking practices.

Bank Victims believes the investigation or Royal Commission should look at each of the CBA scandals. Further, so that there is an end to allegations of corruption by the banking sector, there is evidence that the Australian Bankers Association, Financial Ombudsman Service and the Code Compliance Monitoring Committee are involved in a banking scam that is out of control, as it can potentially damage 17.09 million bank customers.

We await the response from ASIC Chair, Mr Greg Medcraft to supply copies of all reports ASIC has carried out demonstrating it has investigated these claims.

Does the present Government honestly believe that there are people in this country who accept the banks and their association members should get away with no action by the regulators, in a corrupt banking system that is out of control.

Bank Victims will continue to require justice from banks that have been concealing documents, selling asset only or predatory loans and failing to investigate complaints from customers that have legitimate claims of deceitful practices.

MEDIA RELEASE TODAY: Kate Carnell AO (Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman)

In the last few months the Bank Victims team have been campaigning Politicians, the ASIC, and the public to make everybody aware of the new evidence which we have investigated regarding the Banking Code of Practice and a hidden Constitution called the CCMC Constitution that took all the rights away from borrowers, and that no borrower was able to access this Constitution for the 10 year period from 2004 until 2014.

The last few months have been a struggle for the Bank Victims team. We have written the much needed letters to the ASIC: Mr Greg Tanzer, giving him the information so he is aware of the non performance in dealing with Banking Corruption.

As the year 2014 comes to an end, the Australian banking system is still in disarray; in fact it has never been worse.We have seen the scandal of the Commonwealth Bank Financial Planners debacle with is so-called rogue planners, which has helped to lose some of its customers' life savings. CBA customers have lost millions of dollars.